DNF, because at less than a third of the way in I was already growling at repetitions of thoughts and reasons on both characters' parts, plus the plot is tedious, so I'm done with the series. ( )

I have liked Bill since he first showed himself to be so loyal three books ago. And Hawk did fun little hints about his interest in Isaac after he was rescued. (This book could stand on its own, but to get the full effect you should probably at least read book 1). It seems like all of Hawk's characters hold some tragic and patently false belief about themselves, and it's maybe played up a bit much, but I do think a lot of abused people struggle with self esteem and feelings of worthiness, so it worked pretty well here. I like that they both worked on their issue and they weren't just magically resolved the second they found love. ( )

I enjoyed this, although I wish it was made clear that Isaac spoke Ladino earlier than 3/4 of the way through the book. Because I don't think that fact was supposed to be a mystery, but my brain latched onto it like it was. I did really appreciate that Bill and Isaac didn't really keep secrets from each other as the source of conflict for why they couldn't get together like in several of the other books in this series. ( )

Jordan L. Hawk always has such incredible and detailed worldbuilding in their books that always makes sense, and the Hexworld series is not an exception - it’s a very unique and fun twist on shapeshifter romance, and I’m completely in love with this universe.

I loved the mystery, which was sufficiently dark and twisty, loved the good helping of angst, and of course, the main romance with two very good, very soft boys, who deserve only good things.

I also love how Hawk weaves together an ensemble piece, juggling a bunch of characters from previous books and developing relationships all across the map. Romance authors are the best at this.

A complete win for me. ( )